Wednesday, January 11, 2012

LD 101: How to use Lettering Delights' Cut Its, SVGs, Graphics, and more

(A special thanks goes to Jill of Lettering Delights for verifying the information in this article).

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Back in August 2010, I had written a post that explained how I use LD's graphics, doodlebats, and clipart with my Cricut and Make-the-Cut program. Since then, many things have changed. Lately I have received many emails asking what kind of LD files to use with the non-Cricut electronic cutters so that I think it is time for an update to my post.

Each Cut It set comes with several formats including SVG, DXF, GSD, etc. If you are using a Silhouette cutter, you can use the SVGs with Silhouette Designer Edition (SSDE). Each SVG comes embedded with color so that you can even print-and-cut. If you do not have SSDE, you can use the GSD or DXF formats to cut with the free Silhouette Studio program for paper-piecing. However, since the GSD or DXF format only includes the cut lines, you will need to fill in your own colors for print-and-cut.

Each SVG set includes only the .svg format of the images. When LD first started selling cut files, they only sold SVGs and that is why you may find that some cut files on their site are available only as SVGs and not Cut Its. The Cut Its were later introduced so that people who can't use SVGs with their electronic cutters can still cut using the other formats. Lettering Delights will be converting all the SVG sets on their site so that they will be available as Cut Its instead.

Silhouette Studio users please note:

By default, the Silhouette Studio Designer Ed (SSDE) has set all the LD svgs to NO CUT. In order to cut out the layers, first UNGROUP the image and then open the Cut Style window and set the cut line to CUT.

I have used SVGs and Cut Its in many of my projects. You can see many of them in my gallery. Here are a few of my favorites. Please click on the image to see the corresponding post.

Graphics do not come with cut lines so you will have to make a trace first in order to obtain the cutting path. These are great for digital scrapbooking or for printing out (e.g. to decorate your documents or printouts).

Graphic files are also great for print-and-cut. Even though SVGs can be used for print-and-cut, I love using graphics because of the different way that they are colored. Here is a card that I made by printing-and-cutting a LD graphic:

Doodlebats are dingbats. Think of them as fonts but are designs rather than letters and numbers. Like fonts, they usually come in the .ttf format. If you are using the Silhouette Studio program, you will need to install the doodlebats on the computer first and then bring the designs onto the virtual mat by typing them out as though they are text. They will have cut lines that are automatically set to CUT by the Silhouette Studio program. Those sets that are bold and non-sketchy can be cut out pretty well.

At the time of posting this article, I have not used the Silhouette Studio program with a Doodlebat yet but here are a few that I have with Make-the-Cut. Just click on the image to see how I made them.

These are just like the graphic sets except that they are letter and number characters (hence "Alphabet"). Like the graphic and clip art sets, these are great for print-and-cut but will need to be traced first. These make great titles for scrapbooks.

Here is a card where I used an alphabet for a sentiment.

Paper packs: are patterns. You can use these as digital papers for your cards and scrapbooks. You can also print them out to use as patterned papers.

I hope that this post answers your questions. If you have not tried any of the Lettering Delights files, now is a great time. During the Dollar Days sale, all graphics, fonts, paper, doodlebats, and clipart are only $1 while SVGs and Cut Its are as low as $2 a set! If you have not shopped the sale, hurry because the sale ends tomorrow at midnight MST and I have no idea when it'll be back again. Don't miss out, click HERE to go to the Lettering Delights website now.

UPDATE:

Read this post to learn more about the differences between the Cut ITs and the Graphics.

6 comments
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Hi Jin! I just recently found the wealth of information that is your blog! Thank you for that! I appreciate this post because I have been terribly confused by the LD site and what to buy. Since I didn't want to miss out on some of the sale stuff I did just recently purchase some "Cut Its" files. What I still am not sure of is why I need so many choices? It seems that the same designs are available in all or most of the choices. But when I look at the images (I understand the paper) what purpose would drive me to buy one over the other? I own a Cameo with Designer software. I had an SD and just upgraded as I was realizing all that the Silhouette could do for me. Can you give a run through on what the best uses of each type of LD design would be? I hope my question is making sense to you.

Thank you so very much for explaining the differences. Especially between the svg and cut-it files. You spared me a lot of frustration since I was planning to use the mailbox pattern for Valentines day. As a newbie to my cameo and SSDE, I was playing around with it and wondered if there were any cut lines! Thank goodness for your blog! I hope I have time tomorrow to play now that I know what to do!

Jin - -I recently found this post and appreciate all your details and information thought I still have a question. I have a Cameo and SSDE. I also digi scrap on occassion. Is one type of image able to easily be used with both? Suggestions?